PERSONAL WATERCRAFT TRANSPORT

Abstract

An apparatus for towing a personal watercraft includes a pair of wheels, each rotatably mounted to one end of a respective arm. The arms are pivotally mounted by clamps to a crossmember which extends through a clamp mounted on the topside of the watercraft for movement between stowed positions and ground-engaging positions.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This regular utility patent application claims the benefit under 35 U. S. C. § 119(e) of U.S. Ser. No. 61/239,543 filed Sep. 3, 2009. The disclosure of U.S. Ser. No. 61/239,543 is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to transports for personal watercraft such as canoes, kayaks, and the like. It is disclosed in the context of a transport for a kayak, but is believed to have other applications as well.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Personal watercraft transports are currently available. See, for example: “PaddleCart, The Ultimate Kayak Cart and Canoe Cart;” and, “The Wike Woody Wagon Canoe Trailer at Wike Bicycle Trailers Bike Trailers and Bike Joggers.” The disclosures of these references are hereby incorporated herein by reference. The above listing is not intended to be a representation that a complete search of all relevant art has been made, or that no more pertinent art than that listed exists, or that the listed art is material to patentability. Nor should any such representation be inferred.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

According to the disclosure, an apparatus for towing a watercraft with a bicycle includes a pair of wheels. Each wheel is rotatably mounted to one end of a respective arm. The arms are pivotally mounted from a topside of the watercraft for movement of the wheels between stowed positions and ground-engaging positions.

Further illustratively, the apparatus comprises a crossmember mounted on the topside of the watercraft. The arms are pivotally mounted from said topside of the watercraft by being mounted on said crossmember.

Illustratively, the arms are pivotally mounted to said crossmember by clamps.

Illustratively, the arms are pivotally mounted by second clamps to the crossmember.

Further illustratively, the apparatus comprises a bicycle fork clamp adjacent said first clamp.

Further illustratively, the apparatus comprises a rear wheel bracket mounted to the watercraft such a distance from the fork clamp that clamping the bicycle's front fork into the fork clamp positions the bicycle's rear wheel in the rear wheel bracket.

Further illustratively, the apparatus comprises an axle which extends between the arms, and a towing tongue including a pair of flexible members extending from an end of the towing tongue for attachment to the axle.

Further illustratively, the apparatus comprises a third flexible member extending from the end of the towing tongue for attachment to the watercraft.

Illustratively, the towing tongue includes a plug for attachment to a rearward end of the towing tongue. The flexible members are attached to the towing tongue by the plug.

Further illustratively, the apparatus comprises a third flexible member positioned along the length of the towing tongue between the end of the towing tongue and a second end of the towing tongue. The third flexible member engages a region of the watercraft adjacent an end of the watercraft.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may best be understood by referring to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings which illustrate the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a side elevational view of an apparatus for towing a personal watercraft;

FIG. 2 illustrates a fragmentary perspective view of an apparatus for towing a personal watercraft;

FIG. 3 illustrates a fragmentary side elevational view of a personal watercraft on the water;

FIG. 4 illustrates a fragmentary sectional view of the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 taken generally along section lines 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 illustrates a detail of the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1-3;

FIG. 6 illustrates a detail of the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1-3; and,

FIG. 7 illustrates a detail of the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1-3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

The devices described combine cycling and personal watercraft enjoyment, for example, kayaking, by permitting the enthusiast to tow a personal watercraft with a bicycle. The described devices permit the enthusiast to attach the bicycle to the personal watercraft, for example, to the topside of the kayak just behind the seat. A cart portion of the described devices has retractable wheels. When retracted, the wheels are also located behind the personal watercraft seat. The described devices eliminate the need for a pickup vehicle at the terminal end, for example, the downstream end, of a personal watercraft cruise. The described devices include a tow arm that couples to the cart axle and runs under the personal watercraft, or across the topside of the personal watercraft, to the tow bicycle. The tow arm breaks down into multiple, for example, two, parts for storage on the personal watercraft while under way. In some embodiments, one or more parts of the tow arm may also be used as (a) component(s) of an outrigger for added stability of the watercraft, for example, in rough water.

An apparatus 20 for towing a personal watercraft 22, such as a kayak, behind a bicycle 24 is illustrated in FIGS. 1-4. The apparatus 20 includes a pair of wheels 26, each rotatably mounted to one end of a respective arm 28. Arms 28 in turn are pivotally mounted by clamps 30 to a crossmember 32 which extends through a clamp 34 mounted on the topside 36 of the watercraft 22. A fork clamp or fork block 38 of known configuration is combined with, or mounted on or adjacent, clamp 34. A rear wheel bracket 40 is mounted to the topside 36 of the watercraft rearwardly from fork block 38 an appropriate distance so that clamping the bicycle 24′s front fork 42 into the fork block 38 places the bicycle 24′s rear wheel 44 in the rear wheel bracket 40.

A towing tongue 46 includes a plug 48 insertable into a rearward end 50 thereof and lockable in end 50 by, for example, a threaded fastener, a split pin, a hairpin-type cotter pin, a split ring, a bowtie locking cotter of the type illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,693, or other suitable type of fastener. The plug 48 has one end of each of three straps 52-1, 52-2, 52-3 constructed from, for example, natural or synthetic webbing or belting, attached thereto. The lengths of straps 52-1, 52-2, 52-3 are adjustable, for example, by respective buckles 54-1, 54-2, 54-3, along the lengths thereof.

Center strap 52-2 has a hook 55 at its end 56 opposite plug 48 for hooking over the lip 58 of the cockpit 60 of watercraft 22. Outer straps 52-1 and 52-3 have additional buckles 61 permitting them to be drawn tight around an axle 62 which extends between clamp blocks 64 by which wheels 26 are mounted to arms 28. Another strap 66 is attached to towing tongue 46 forward along its length at a location near where the bow 68 of watercraft 22 will be located when the apparatus 20 is in towing configuration.

Tongue 46 may be constructed in the form of two substantially equal lengths 70 of tubing or the like with adjacent ends 72, 74 of any suitable complementary configuration to permit joining them together, end 50 for receiving plug 48 and an end 78 including a towing coupler 80 for coupling to a complementary coupler on the bicycle 24. Strap 66 is provided with a buckle 82 at one end thereof. When it is desired to tow the watercraft 22 behind the bicycle 24, the tongue 46 is assembled from its disassembled, stowable configuration. Clamps 30 are released, permitting them to be slid outward along crossmember 32 and pivoting of arms 28 with their wheels 26 downward into ground-engaging orientation, at which point the clamps 30 are reclamped to crossmember 32 fixing wheels 26 in ground-engaging orientation. The watercraft 22 is then ready to tow with the bicycle 24.

Adjacent ends 72, 74 can be, for example, provided with a smaller or larger diameter length of tubing which is insertable into, or slides around one or the other or both of ends 72, 74 and is fixed to ends 72, 74 by a threaded fastener, split pin, hairpin-type cotter pin, split ring, bowtie locking cotter or the like. Alternatively, ends can be provided with internal or external threads and a threaded coupler can be provided to thread onto the outsides or insides of them.

Clamps 30, 34, 64 illustratively are split block- or slotted block-type clamps of the general type illustrated in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. These are tightened to clamp tubes 28, 32, 62 by tightening socket head threaded fasteners 84 into the threaded passageways with which respective clamps 30, 34, 64 are provided. Fork block 38 and rear wheel bracket 40 illustratively are of types available from a number of sources such as, for example, Thule (http://www.thule.com/en/US/), Hollywood Racks (http://www.hollywoodracks.com/), or Rocky Mounts (http://www.rockymounts.com/). Axle 62 and tongue components 70 illustratively are sufficiently short that they can be stowed in watercraft 22 when it is on the water.

Claims

1. An apparatus for towing a watercraft with a bicycle, the apparatus including a pair of wheels, each said wheel rotatably mounted to one end of a respective arm, said arms being pivotally mounted from a topside of the watercraft for movement of said wheels between stowed positions and ground-engaging positions.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said arms are pivotally mounted by second clamps to the crossmember.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a bicycle fork clamp adjacent said first clamp.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 further comprising a rear wheel bracket mounted to the watercraft a distance from the fork clamp so that clamping the bicycle's front fork into the fork clamp positions the bicycle's rear wheel in the rear wheel bracket.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising an axle which extends between said arms, and a towing tongue including a pair of flexible members extending from an end thereof for attachment to said axle.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 further comprising a third flexible member extending from the end of said towing tongue for attachment to the watercraft.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said towing tongue includes a plug for attachment to a rearward end of said towing tongue, the flexible members attached to said towing tongue by said plug.

8. The apparatus of claim 5 further comprising a third flexible member positioned along the length of said towing tongue between said end thereof and a second end thereof, the third flexible member for engaging a region of the watercraft adjacent an end of the watercraft.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a crossmember mounted on the topside of the watercraft, said arms being pivotally mounted from said topside of the watercraft by being mounted on said crossmember.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein said arms are pivotally mounted to said crossmember by clamps.